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As many of you know, getting the kids off the couch and away from the screens to do something fun outdoors is a bit of a passion of mine.

This summer I said yes to helping with the summer programs for kids at the Green Briar Nature Center in East Sandwich and it’s been a blast so far. Every morning you can find us out exploring somewhere or making something ….

We hike all over the Game Farm as well as the Briar Patch and sometimes we go out in the canoe catamaran.

Some days we make toys based on science and some days we paint stuff.

One thing we always do is have fun!

There’s still plenty of summer left so find a kid and take them outside. You’ll be glad you did and so will they!

Mushrooms fascinate me. They pop up all over and they are all so different. I have attended various workshops over the years and have studied various field guides but there is a lot of complexity to identifying mushrooms properly. If there’s anything that really does need proper ID it is a mushroom, especially if you are thinking of eating one.

This spring I joined the Cape Cod Mushroom Club and have gone on a couple of their walks. It is really a great way to learn and the leaders have been knowledgeable and terrific. Although I’ve learned a lot about identification and families of mushrooms I’ve also learned the importance of really being thorough.

Not being thorough could kill you or at least make you really sick. See how cute and innocent these little guys look? They are neither….they are different kinds of Amanitas and can make you very, very sick. The white death angel amanita is very common here and can kill you.

On the other hand, some are fine to sample like these black trumpets. Don’t use my photos, etc. as final ID. Have an expert check!

Some are just fun like these fairy stools

And these cool looking yellow headed jelly babies–at least I think that’s what they are.

There are lots of boletes

And russulas….but prepare to fully identify them which isn’t easy…,

For me, just learning a little bit more about the world I share with all these interesting life forms is where the fun is….and oh yeah, I like to draw them, too. Later this week I’ll put up photos of the sketches I did on the last walk but for now I’ll leave you with this one…

came all the newly fledged orioles, one after another. My feeder is so busy with young Baltimore orioles these days that they are hanging around in the nearby bushes bickering until they can take a turn. There are half a dozen adult orioles as well, leading me to believe I have at least 3 nests represented. One group has 3, another 2 and one male oriole brings one lone youngster every day….

These youngsters are not brightly colored like their parents yet, allowing them to be well camouflaged as they flit about from tree to tree, bush to bush. They are foraging for insects as well as enjoying the grape jelly and oranges. Some of them are having a bit of a struggle with balance still and they often go bottoms up! Check out that lemon yellow tail on the underside!

This threesome has grown a lot over the week but the first day they arrived they were very unsure about how to get to the feeder so they just waited for dad to show them how it is done. Dad was not feeding them at this time so they begged from each other…sorry for the blurry photo but it does tell the tale…

Also this week I’ve had some other visitors to the oriole feeder.

Check out that dull brown coloration when the wings are folded. Great camouflage! But look what happens when the butterfly opens its wings….

It is hard to see the full coloration on the inside in this photo but I got good looks, if not good photos, of this little guy and I believe it to be what is called a question mark butterfly. That really is its name, by the way, and they are not uncommon here at this time of year.

I’ve had other butterflies visit the feeder as well but none as cooperative as this one when it came to posing for the camera.

I also have catbirds visiting this feeder but so far I have only succeeded in capturing a gray blur….

I love to sketch, I love nature and I love traveling around Cape Cod so on this sunny day in late June I packed my lunch and my sketching materials and headed to the lower Cape, hopefully beating the summer crowds.

I then headed to one of my favorite places for sketching flowers, etc., Fort Hill in Eastham.

It was picture perfect there, with fields full of flowers like these sweet peas…

I got out my trusty pen and little red Moleskine notebook and began to sketch. Almost all my field sketches are done in ink. I add the color later at home. This allows me to stand while I draw and to move along from subject to subject easily and quickly.

Later, I add the watercolor washes like these…

Sometimes, though, I find a spot where it is perfect to just hang out a bit and paint, like this one in the beech woods by the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, where I also went today. This spot is a favorite of mine going back to childhood and I have to say it still has the same magic for me today.

I highly recommend getting out to do a little sketching and writing or even just daydreaming. It helps to capture a moment, an observation and refines our observation skills, something we can always improve upon. Never mind about talent or experience. Just begin where you are.

The table was all set up with the necessary tools for weighing, measuring and recording.

The next step was to check the mist nets which had been set up in areas migratory birds fly through but which also had some protection.

The little bag holds other bags which can gently hold the birds found and carefully removed from the nets.

Look what we found! A great crested flycatcher! These guys are feisty and vocal in the wild and they are when captured as well.

Feathers are examined to determine condition and age of the bird.By blowing on the belly of the bird the bander can tell if the bird has a bare brood patch, meaning it is sitting on eggs. In this species both male and female can have brood patches so sex was not determined.

The bird is then weighed. It looks sort of tough but really, the bird is quieted by the darkness and the fact that it can’t move. It is only in the tube for a matter of seconds.

After all that the band is affixed to the leg and all info is recorded.

A moment is taken to admire and thank the bird for its cooperation

and then it is released. When releasing the birds, they are held close to the ground which helps them orient themselves.

Let’s just say the birds do not hang around after being released. This one actually called and chatted back and forth with what we assumed was a mate almost immediately. All of this takes place in a matter of minutes, by the way. The bird banders are very kind, calm and aware of the bird’s dignity and stress level. I have seen birds banded before but it was a pretty cool way to spend a morning.

It’s spring, finally! That means it is time to get outside, explore old favorite paths but find new paths and new places to explore as well. I grew up here on the Cape and am familiar with many, many places and yet every year I find new places that become new favorites. There are probably enough places to explore, even in a small place like Cape Cod, that I will never find them all.

So how do you find new places? Go off the beaten path and take a road you’ve never taken before. The Cape is only so wide and only so long. You can only get so lost!

Joining a group or signing up for a nature walk with any of the many wonderful nature minded organizations is also fun and you’ll make some new friends as well.

The other day I went on one of Mary Beers’s walks at the East Sandwich Game Farm. Mary is so knowledgeable you’ll gather all sorts of interesting information.

This walk is not for exercise as much as it is for natural history so don’t plan on any serious hiking. You can go back by yourself for that. I know the game farm pretty well, having worked with Mary there many times over the years but we found a few things I never knew before…

Not only is reindeer lichen a favorite food of reindeer in areas where they live–which is not on Cape Cod–but a close up will show you that the little branches look like reindeer antlers. I have seen this in a lot of places but not in a big patch like this one! Mary told us the patches are few and far between on the Cape…We also found little holes like these on a sunny hillside path….the sun had gone in but it was still warm when we found them….

Mary thought they might be the little nesting spots of solitary bees and as we looked carefully on the ground we started to see the bees coming out of the dirt. Most were just waking up from the winter! They lay their eggs in these tunnels and bring pollen in that will feed the larvae when they hatch. How cool is that?

We heard and saw the usual birds but a belted kingfisher gave us a nice close look and we watched both osprey and a Cooper’s hawk fly overhead.

Check the links that are highlighted to find more information about each group’s walks. If you’d rather just go walking by yourself, there are also lots of good books out there as well, with maps and info.

After a week of being sick and housebound and watching the snow blow yet again outside my window I went in search of spring this week.

Where is the best place to find spring? At a farm! Every year about this time I pop on over to Peterson’s Farm in Woods Hole to see the little lambs. It doesn’t get much cuter than little lambs jumping and running about. No matter how grumpy or out of sorts you may be feeling I think it would be hard to stay that way while watching little lambs frolic.

I even got to visit with Harley, the llama and his older charges. That Harley is one patient dude, hanging out with the chickens as well as those persnickety old sheep.

Birds were singing all about, none as brightly or loudly as this happy song sparrow, though.

Robins and grackles were everywhere in the fields, some even finding worms or grubs. It’s late for worms and grubs but there is still snow on the ground in many places. In the warmer spots, however, worms and grubs were nearer to the surface.

A rabbit watched me as I watched it, hidden well within the brambles…

It gave me a nice little flash of white tail as it made its exit.

The shrubs and vines are showing life and were full of birds…

In another few weeks it will be full on spring at the farm. I can’t wait! Happy Spring, everyone!